Movement to Re-invigorate Arts and Learning is Launched in Montreal

CNAL/RCAA has partnered with the Canadian Commission for UNESCO (CCUNESCO) and the UNESCO Chair in Arts and Learning at Queen’s University to re-invigorate the Seoul Agenda which is a global action plan endorsed by UNESCO. The first step in this initiative is a Position Paper that was launched in a special panel at the Annual General Meeting of CCUNESCO in Montreal on May 27, 2017.

Panelists included Danika Littlechild, Vice-president, Canadian Commission for UNESCO, who explained the Commission’s commitment to the Position paper and to the renewal process that it heralds. Dr. Benjamin Bolden, UNESCO Chair on Arts & Learning, shared some of his thinking about the potential of arts education to address social and cultural challenges with a particular focus on the global challenge of climate change. Dr. Jérôme Pruneau, Director General of Diversité artistique Montréal, spoke about art's response to the increasingly necessary inclusion processes in view of waves of multiple migrations linked in particular to climate change, giving as an example a professional artistic mentoring program. Claude Schryer, Senior Strategic Advisor, Canada Council for the Arts, discussed the themes of the Position paper from the perspective of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Council’s commitments in their current strategic plan.

Janica Echavez, a member of CCUNESCO’s Youth Advisory Group, invited attendees to explore and share their reflections on the themes of this panel through collaborative art making.

Janica Enchvez - Third year Engineering student and Schulich Leader Scholar at the University of Calgary. Ambassador and member of CCUNESCO Youth Advisory Group. Visual Artist. Janica facilitated the art making activity.